When the engine stops it takes a while for the heat exchanger to warm up so the air coming out remains cold for a while. Certainly long enough for a traffic light stop.
Thank you for your reply!
So, I did check this out again today - and I am not entirely sure you are correct.
Mind you, some traffic lights can take 2 minutes (I know I know, not all the time).
I realized this sounds a bit crazy - but you should see the heat where I am at (in fact, Honda declares my country to be of Rougher Conditions - maybe party because of this).
It happens to be that I just drove a 2018 Civic with the Stop Start system, and it's very noticeable that the AC is off. I told the owner I am shutting this feature off and he thanked me so much - he did not know it's possible.